Each writer has distinct techniques, choices, and characteristics that make his or her work recognizable and individual. This style is not only about the words they choose, but also how they structure their sentences, build characters, develop themes, and craft the overall tone and atmosphere of their work. Literary translation requires the ability to find appropriate translation techniques so that the translated text could have the same impact on the reader as the original one “without distorting the content and the author’s intent” (Maulenbergenova & Ziyaeva, 2023). As acknowledged by Sebranek, the creation of a literary work is not only a factor in determining the writer's worldview, but the choice of spelling, grammar and punctuation, as well as words, sentence structure used to effectively express the text are also key elements (Sebranek, 2006). In other words, the author’s style is the choice in sentence structure, tone, and word usage that distinguishes them from each other and belongs to the writer’s work.

Sklyarova and Samarina share the idea that any manifestations of the author's individual style are deviations from the general literary norm, which make his or her text unique, “taking a special place among works of art” (Sklyarova & Samarina, 2019). Obviously, any literary text acquires originality as it passes through the writer’s personality and style, and its adequate translation requires the preservation of peculiarities of the author’s style of writing.

Each text is accompanied by a particular grammatical construction, and therefore it is impossible not to take into account the use of the corresponding grammatical forms. Grammatical structures not only function as combination of lexical items, but also make it possible to convey specifics of author’s thought.

One of the main characteristics of Fitzgerald’s writing style in the novel from grammatical standpoint is the utilization of prepositional phrases. The employment of prepositional phrases allows the writer to convey the scene-setting and atmosphere of a text in the way he intends to. Let us consider the following passage in the novel:

“Mr. McKee regarded her intently with his head on one side, and then moved his hand back and forth slowly in front of his face” (Fitzgerald, 2004, p. 26).

The prepositional phrases “with his head on one side”, “in front of his face” in this sentence strengthen the image of Mr. McKee’s actions, conveying the effect the author intends to transfer.

Let us consider another example with prepositional phrases:

“Tom and Miss Baker, with several feet of twilight between them, strolled back into the library, as if to a vigil beside a perfectly tangible body, while, trying to look pleasantly interested and a little deaf, I followed Daisy around a chain of connecting verandas to the porch in front. In its deep gloom we sat down side by side on a wicker settee” (Fitzgerald, 2004, p. 15).

In this example, although the sentences act as grammatically correct complete units without the prepositional phrases “with several feet of twilight bеtween them”, “to a vigil bеside a perfectly tangible body”, “around a chain of connecting verandas”, “to the porch in front”, “on a wicker settеe”, they function as adverbs in the extract demonstrating spatial relationship between the components, and illustrating the setting in details. The employment of prepositional phrases allows the writer to create a vivid image and convey the effect that he intends to transfer.

One more specific of the construction of the novel from grammatical perspective is the narrative tense. Although the narration is written mainly in the past tense, there are several cases when Fitzgerald switches to the present tense. For instance, the present simple and the present perfect tenses are inserted in narration to remind the readers that the narrator is recollecting past memories:

“In consequence, I’m inclined to reserve all judgments, a habit that has opened up many curious natures to me and also made me the victim of not a few veteran bores.” (Fitzgerald, 2004, p. 4).

The present tense is also inserted when describing Gatsby’s parties: “the air is alive with chatter and laughter”, “the lights grow brighter as the earth lurches away from the sun”, “the orchestra is playing yellow cocktail music”, “one of the gypsies […] seizes a cocktail out of the air, dumps it down for courage and [… ]dances out alone on the canvas platform”, “the orchestra leader varies his rhythm”. The present simple and the present continuous tenses are implemented here to convey the atmosphere of the parties, to capture details in real time. Moreover, as the present simple tense indicates regularity, it is implemented by the author to highlight repetitiveness and predictability of Gatsby’s parties.

The majority of characters’ speeches in The Great Gatsby are short, while long sentences are used for narration. Although the novel is characterized by sentence length variation, i.e. the use of short sentences in dialogues and relatively long sentences in narration, the majority of the sentences in the novel tend to be complex and compound-complex sentences. Here is an example of compound-complex sentences:

“Most of the confidences were unsought — frequently I have feigned sleep, preoccupation, or a hostile levity when I realized by some unmistakable sign that an intimate revelation was quivering on the horizon; for the intimate revelations of young men, or at least the terms in which they express them, are usually plagiaristic and marred by obvious suppressions” (Fitzgerald, 2004, p. 4).

Compound-complex sentences capture the relationships between multiple ideas. Although it is possible to divide the independent clauses and make them separate sentences, the author utilized such syntactic construction to express longer strings of thought, and form a complete one. Utilizing complex-compound sentences, Fitzgerald demonstrates that it is possible to bring a various pieces of information together in a single sentence without losing their relationship to each other and creating confusion. From this standpoint, the translator should preserve this feature of the writer’s style in translation taking into consideration the grammar norms of the target language.

Several complex and compound-complex sentences from the chapters in which they occur more frequently were analyzed. Based on the analysis we have revealed types of transformations implemented by Kalashnikova and Ilyin to convey the author’s style at syntactic level. Differences between English and Russian sentence structures, such as word order or sentence length, may cause difficulties for translators. We have identified that Kalashnikova translated the sentences by means of such grammatical transformations as transposition, substitution, addition, omission, breaking a sentence into two, while Ilyin implemented substitution. Conveying several thoughts within one sentence without losing cohesion is challenging. Both translators tried to adequately render the peculiarity of Fitzgerald’s style of using complex and compound-complex sentences in narration, trying not to breakdown them into two or more simple sentences.

Kalashnikova translated some of complex-compound sentences by means of syntactic transformation breaking down a sentence into two simple sentences.

Substitution of passive voice with active, transposition of the parts of the sentence, заменасложноподчиненногодеепричастием, addition or explanation:  “Most of the confidences were unsought — frequently I have feigned sleep, preoccupation, or a hostile levity when I realized by some unmistakable sign that an intimate revelation was quivering on the horizon; for the intimate revelations of young men, or at least the terms in which they express them, are usually plagiaristic and marred by obvious suppressions” (Fitzgerald, 2004, p. 4).

Kalashnikova translated this complex-compound sentence substituting the passive voice with active, using transposition of the parts of the sentence, replacing the subordinate clause with particle. Moreover, she added opening phrase in the beginning of the sentence: “По большей части, я их откровений отнюдь не искал и нередко, едва поняв по некоторым безошибочно узнаваемым признакам, что на горизонте замаячила интимная исповедь, изображал сонливость, великую занятость и неприязненную легковесность; ведь интимные исповеди молодых мужчин или, по крайней мере, выражения в которые они, как правило, отдают плагиатом либо основательно замутняются очевидными недомолвками” (Fitzgerald, 1989, p. 6).

Ilyin also preserved the complexity of the sentence not breaking it down into simple sentences.  He implemented transposition  of the parts of the sentence, replacement of the passive voice with the active, and omission, the last one leading to the loss of implicit irony: “Я вовсе не искал подобного доверия — сколько раз, заметив некоторые симптомы, предвещающие очередное интимное признание, я принимался сонно зевать, спешил уткнуться в книгу или напускал на себя задорно-легкомысленный тон; ведь интимные признания молодых людей, по крайней мере, та словесная форма, в которую они облечены, представляют собой, как правило, плагиат и к тому же страдают явными недомолвками” (Fitzgerald, 2015, p. 6).

Characters’ speeches in the novel are mostly characterized by short sentences. One of the difficulties that a translator faces is sentence length variations in English and Russian, relatively longer sentences in Russian compared to English. The main task of the translator is to avoid repetition of similar constructions and excessive discontinuity of the narration. To fulfill this task Kalashnikova implemented syntactic transformation, joining two sentences into one, while Ilyin preserved the sentence structures by means of appropriate punctuation marks and subordinate clauses.

Example 1: “I thought they’d be a nice durable cardboard. Matter of fact, they’re absolutely real.” (Fitzgerald, 2004, p. 37) – “Я был уверен, что тут одни корешки, а оказывается — они настоящие” (Fitzgerald, 1989, p. 26) – “Я думал, они из хорошего крепкого картона сделаны. А они, на самом-то деле, совершенно настоящие” (Fitzgerald, 2015, p. 58).

Example 2: “This is an unusual party for me. I haven’t even seen the host” (Fitzgerald, 2004, p.38) – “Никак не привыкну к положению гостя, незнакомого с хозяином” (Fitzgerald, 1989, p. 28) – “Я не привычен к таким приемам. Даже хозяина невидел” (Fitzgerald, 2015, p.61).

There are also cases of syntactic rearrangement of sentences. In the following example, for instance, the parts of the sentence are rearranged based on the norms of the Russian grammar and to convey the expressiveness of the source text: “Now, don’t think my opinion on these matters is final,” he seemed to say, “just because I’m stronger and more of a man than you are” (Fitzgerald, 2004, p. 8).  -  “Казалось, он говорил: «Я, конечно, сильнее вас, и вообще я не вам чета, но все же можете не считать мое мнение непререкаемым” (Fitzgerald, 1989, p. 7). - «Я, в отличие от вас, настоящий мужчина, да и посильнее вашего буду, - казалось, желал сказать он, - однако из этого не следует, что я всегда прав» (Fitzgerald, 2015, p.13).

The rules of integration of clauses are different in different languages. This is explained by the fact that each language describes the interaction of things and events in the world in different ways. Problems of rendering the grammatical features of the author’s style occur in terms of translating complex-compound sentences without the loss of logical flow between the parts of the sentences, and the differences in the grammatical structures in the source and the target languages. Both translators managed to preserve the peculiarity of Fitzgerald’s style to use complex and complex-compound sentences by means of grammatical transpositions, used based on the grammatical norms of the target language or for emphasizing a particular message, grammatical substation, replacing passive voice with active, and appropriate punctuation marks. However, there are several cases of Kalashnikova’s implementing grammatical transformation dividing a complex-compound sentence into two simple sentences.

To conclude, the author's style is not just about the choice of words, but also how they structure their sentences, use punctuation, and apply specific grammatical patterns. If the grammatical structure is changed too much, the unique voice and tone of the author could be lost, which may alter the reader's experience of the original text. In addition, certain grammatical structures in the source language might carry subtle nuances, such as formality, intimacy, or irony. Translating those structures effectively into the target language can help retain these layers of meaning, which are essential for a faithful representation of the original text.